Middletown church hosts 5K race to battle malaria in Africa

About every 60 seconds, someone in Africa dies from malaria. This frightening statistic is one reason that Connection Community Church will be hosting a 5K race next month to raise money to help combat the problem.

This frightening statistic is one reason that Connection Community Church will be hosting a 5K race next month to raise money to help combat the problem.

The local church will be contributing the United Methodist Church’s worldwide initiative to “Stomp Malaria.”

“It’s a problem that is easily challenged by simple things like a net to protect the kids,” said Pastor Alan Jones.

Money raised by the race will be used to buy nets for children in the impoverished area across the Atlantic Ocean.

And a net only costs $10 a pop, Jones said.

The UMC as a whole is working towards ending the preventable deaths by malaria in Africa. The Imagine No Malaria campaign is looking to raise $75 million world wide to help the African people overcome the burden.

The church looks at ways to participate in helping people locally and on a global scale, Jones said.

And one of the simplest ways to help fight the problem is to buy nets at $10 a piece to put over children and adults while they sleep to keep the mosquitoes from biting them.

CCC doesn’t have a goal yet of how much money they hope to raise, but parishioner and trustee Nancy Johnston says that she would like to see at least 200 people turn up for the event.

“Our goal is to raise as much as we can to go into the fund,” Jones said. “It’s to make a difference.”

The church doesn’t do fundraisers too often, but when its Outreach Committee mentioned doing a 5K during their meeting, Johnston jumped on the idea.

“It excited me,” she said, “so I volunteered to help.”

The route runners and walkers will take is the same Johnston has done on previous races she has participated in. It will begin on Green Street, travel up state Route 71, go through the Sharondale community and come back the same way to the finish.